Kansas City police are investigating a series of car break-ins on the city's south side that include police cars.

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Authorities said four Kansas City police cruisers and two Jackson County Sheriff's Office cars were broken into near 76th Street and Breckenridge Avenue, a neighborhood where the officers and deputies live.

"If you're willing to take the risk and break into a police car, that's a pretty brazen thief," said Jackson County Sheriff Mike Sharp.

Police said some equipment and weapons were taken from the vehicles. Authorities are conducting an inventory to determine what is missing.

Sharp said the vehicles had built-in protections that were supposed to prevent this kind of theft.

"They're locked and they can't be opened unless the car is running at the moment. They're not supposed to open," he said.

Sharp said his office has about 100 vehicles and deputies take them home at night. The Kansas City Police Department has about 700 vehicles, half of which are take-home cars. Those are assigned to officers or detectives who are on-call around the clock and the vehicles shouldn't be used for personal purposes.

Sharp said it's the second time in a week one of his department's vehicles has been hit by thieves. He said he plans to review the department's policies.

"We look at everything," he said. "There is a lot of equipment in any police vehicle. We'd like, ideally, to park them in garages."

Anyone with information on the thefts is asked to call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-8477.